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mind on how a woman should become more interesting by wearing some glamorous things and become “a lady” on their young age.
B. Problem Formulation
1. How is Polly Milton characterized in the story? 2. How does Polly Milton challenge the stereotypical idea of an ideal woman?
C. Objectives of the Study
The objectives of the study are generally to answer the problem formulation. In details, the purposes of the objectives of the study are to understand Polly’s
characteristics in the story even more. Then, the second one is to find the stereotypical idea of an ideal woman from the novel, and then figure out how the
characteristics of Polly Milton challenge the stereotype of an ideal woman.
D. Definitions on Terms
Before starting the discussion, there are some important terms that should be clarify, the first is “Stereotype”, the second is “ideal woman” and the last is
“character”. According to Barker’s Dictionary of Cultural Studies, stereotype is defined as
a vivid but simple representation that reduces persons to a set of exaggerated, usually negative, character traits and is thus a form of representation that
essentializes others through the operation of power Barker, 2004: 188”.
In “Ideal woman”, to clarify the terms it should be separated into “ideal” and
“woman”. According to Webster’s New Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged,
2
nd
edition, there are some meanings that could be
found in words “Ideal” and “Woman”, but the writer only give the definition
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which is considered as the closest meaning to the topic in the analysis. The
meaning of “ideal” is “... an object which corresponds with such a conception, a perfect model” p. 902. Still in the same dictionary, the meaning of “woman” is
“... an adult female human being” p. 2103. According to Abrams, characters are the persons presented in a dramatic or
narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral, dispositional, and emotional qualities that are expressed in what way they say –
the dialogue – and by what they do – the action Abrams, 1993: 23.
From these definitions, the writer would conclude that stereotype and ideal woman in the title mean an assumption of what is defined as an ideal woman
which comes to peoples mind from their expectation and it becomes the standard to categorize women in a society. And an ideal woman in a society is expected to
have a good behavior, able to fulfill the expectation in a society that she lives in. But a womans characteristic is formed from the peoples expectation in the
society where she lives. The last, characters are the persons presented in a literary work which can be interpreted by the readers through some qualities.
These are the most important terms from the title, so that the reader could understand about the stereotype of an ideal woman in American Victorian era
which is reflected from the main character in Louisa May Alcotts An Old- Fashioned Girl
. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE
